Pakistan says ‘Homeland’ TV show is absurd and insulting

The latest season of US TV spy drama “Homeland” is ruffling feathers among Pakistani officials who are unhappy at the unflattering portrayal of the country’s powerful spy agencies.

Season four of the hit series starring Claire Danes as troubled CIA agent Carrie Mathison revolves around feared Taliban group the Haqqani network and Pakistan’s top spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

A Pakistani official told AFP on Sunday that the show “insulted” the country’s security personnel by suggesting the ISI protected militants at the expense of its citizens.

Pakistani cable networks have refused to screen “Homeland” from its first season onwards, saying it is against the country’s “national interest”.

But it is unusual for an official to comment on a fictional TV show in such forthright terms.

“Repeated insinuations that an intelligence agency of Pakistan is complicit in protecting the terrorists at the expense of innocent Pakistani civilians is not only absurd but also an insult to the ultimate sacrifices of the thousands of Pakistani security personnel in the war against terrorism,” Nadeem Hotiana, press attache at Pakistan’s embassy in Washington told AFP.

Criticism of the ISI is taboo in Pakistan, where the military and intelligence establishment wields huge power.